Steve Moore Denied Impact Statement

[CentreHice]

MC said:

I remember that well, and I am still amazed at the way so many people saw nothing wrong with what Gilmour did.

As with the vast majority of hockey fans, it depends upon which crest the player's wearing. Not with me...I'd have liked to have seen both Varada and Gilmour gone for a while.

I remember legions of Leafs' fans defending Domi's elbow to Niedermayer's head....Tucker's rabid attack on the Ottawa bench....and Tucker's brutal hit on Sami Kapaanen in last year's playoffs. Even though the Leafs were eliminated on that same play, many fans said that hit was the "highlight" of the year.

If the courts won't see fit to deal with the violence...I'll just have to resign myself to the fact that unless somebody dies as a result of an on-ice assault, this league will continue to use violence as a major sales tool to quench the bloodlust of the fans.

How many fans attended that Colorado-Vancouver game with the sole purpose of seeing revenge enacted at home? Cha-ching. The only things missing were the togas and Bettman giving the thumbs up/down sign.

It turns my stomach.

[MC Habber]

CentreHice said:

How many fans attended that Colorado-Vancouver game with the sole purpose of seeing revenge enacted at home?

I don't know. A Colorado-Vancouver game is usually very exciting and I think this one was important in the standings too, so it would probably have been a sell-out even without the revenge factor. I imagine people wanted to see a few fights, but I don't think most were expecting anything like what happened.

[CentreHice]

MC said:

I don't know. A Colorado-Vancouver game is usually very exciting and I think this one was important in the standings too, so it would probably have been a sell-out even without the revenge factor. I imagine people wanted to see a few fights, but I don't think most were expecting anything like what happened.

It was a rhetorical question based on the media hype and the Crawford/Canuck comments which caused Gary Bettman to deem it necessary to supervise their game on March 3 in Colorado. And so it continued to their next meeting.

Here's why I'm having a hard time with this. It isn't the players or teams involved....it's how the unlawful code of this game continues and how media/fans either lap it up or find excuses for it.

Moore checked Naslund in the head with his upper arm. It wasn't an elbow. But it WAS an intended blow to the head...attempt to injure....an automatic 5 and a game and a review. But no call. The refs blew it...the league blew it. And the frothing began. But I maintain that, even with 5 and a game, the call for on-ice payback would still have been carried out. Naslund's a star...leading the league in scoring at the time.

And here's why the whole thing is even more ludicrous to me. Luckily, Naslund missed only 3 games. In his first game back against San Jose on Feb. 26, he played 26 shifts for over 20 minutes of ice (a trend that would continue), assisting on the OT winner.

Feb. 28 against St. Louis...26 shifts, 21+ minutes of ice, 1 assist in a 2-0 win.

Mar. 3 at Colorado. He assists with Bertuzzi on a goal. He scores one, assisted by Bertuzzi. A 5-5 tie.

Mar. 5 at Detroit. 3-1 L. No point.

Mar. 6 at Columbus. Assist with Bertuzzi. Goal assisted by Bertuzzi. 4-0 win.

So that's not too bad on your star's return from a concussion. 5 games...your team goes 3-1-0-1. Your star's on a regular shift, tons of ice time, and clicking with his linemates again. 2 goals, 4 assists...4 of those points with Bertuzzi. You're on a roll...things are back to normal, right?

Next game, Mar. 8....so pre-occupied with revenge the Canucks go down 5-0 in the first period. Game over. Moore even accepts a challenge from Matt Cooke and drops the gloves. Enough? Not even close. We know the rest.

Pre-meditated? You bet. Intended to injure him? Not to that degree. But injure nonetheless even if it meant going beyond the game's and society's rules. The penalty was "attempt to injure". Look it up.

Now Bertuzzi's seeking re-instatement while serving 80-hours of community service. And Moore's still recovering. We can only hope that someone doesn't take a run at Bertuzzi when he's playing again, because there are no doubt many who think what he did was reprehensible.

The league has to develop the stones to ban players for a season or two...and ban the coaches who condone such idiocy.